Anyone know anything about Guild Starfire basses?

[tb-player]

I have a Guild Starfire guitar in emerald green. It is such a fun guitar to play. I enjoy it so much. It makes me wonder if the Starfire semi-hollow basses are just as fun.

Anyone own or ever play a Starfire? I am intrigued.

 

[GretschWretch]

Depends. Are you talking original vintage or reissue? I cannot speak directly to fun, but the old Guild Starfires were considered at least equal to the EB2s and Rivolis of the day, although much less rarely sighted, at least in the deep south. And Steve Boone, Jack Casady. and Chris Hillman all performed with both a Starfire and a P bass.

 

[godofthunder59]

While the originals are great basses the new ones are very very good. The pricier one with two bisonic is a excellent bass. The less expensive one with the single P style pickup is also a exceptional bass for the price point. Can't go wrong with either.

 

[tb-player]

Depends. Are you talking original vintage or reissue? I cannot speak directly to fun, but the old Guild Starfires were considered at least equal to the EB2s and Rivolis of the day, although much less rarely sighted, at least in the deep south. And Steve Boone, Jack Casady. and Chris Hillman all performed with both a Starfire and a P bass.

I'd probably pickup a reissue.

 

[J_Bass]

 

[bluesblaster]

I had a '68 Starfire II , it was a nice bass with an OK sound, frankly the original Bi Sonics didnt blow me away like all the hype I heard before finding one locally, I had a 1990's reissue as well and again it was OK but not a keeper. My favorite Guild bass was a 73' M85, I like it more than the SF's but maybe thats just me.

If your into hollow bodies than you would probably dig a Starfire, I havent had the chance to try the latest reissues myself

 

[tb-player]

While the originals are great basses the new ones are very very good. The pricier one with two bisonic is a excellent bass. The less expensive one with the single P style pickup is also a exceptional bass for the price point. Can't go wrong with either.

The one with the two bisonic pickups is what I'm looking at. I've watched a bunch of YouTube videos and the tone is nice. I just don't know anyone who's played them. It's a sound I don't really have in my arsenal.

 

[tb-player]

I had a '68 Starfire II , it was a nice bass with an OK sound, frankly the original Bi Sonics didnt blow me away like all the hype I heard before finding one locally, I had a 1990's reissue as well and again it was OK but not a keeper. My favorite Guild bass was a 73' M85, I like it more than the SF's but maybe thats just me.

If your into hollow bodies than you would probably dig a Starfire, I haven't had the chance to try the latest reissues myself

I've never owned a hollow-body bass. I've always like active jazz basses. But its nice to have some other tones available. I had looked at a Duesenberg semi-hollow, but that's a lot of money for a first attempt at semi-hollow. The Guild seems like a nice option without breaking the bank. I appreciate the insight.

 

[4SG]

I test drove a Guild Starfire at GC once and could not get a bad sound out of it. Neck felt great. Finish was beautiful. Very versatile in all pickup configurations. Then I put a strap on it and stood up. The neck dive was so fierce the headstock would have hit the floor if I hadn't grabbed it. Put it back on its hook and left.

 

[bluesblaster]

Yeah, theres that. You might want to check out an Epi Jack Cassady , I thought those were pretty nice. I also had a Yamaha Billy Sheehan for awhile, really cool bass but I didnt get on with the wide neck so well so that eventually went down the road too, but if you dont mind the wider nut width they are very cool if you can even find one anymore

 

[Barton Lee]

I've had a 2017 Starfire II, the reissue version, for a couple of years now. I use it for gigs playing rock music from the 60s to recent, rotating it with my '66 P bass, Jazz and Ric 4003S (I like to keep them all happy). The Guild is the most different of those four, but it's also the equal to all of them. I have TI flats on it and I really like the tone, the warmth and bloom of the low end from the semi-hollow body, and yet it still punches through the mix as much as I want it to and I play finger style-only.

I've never had any feedback or neck dive issues with mine, though I do use a wide strap. The neck width at the nut is identical to my Jazz but unlike the J bass, it's short scale and doesn't get much wider as you go up the neck which suits me fine. I'm equally comfortable with the wide neck of my old P and find the Guild to be a nice alternative to my Fenders and Ric. It couldn't be my only bass, but I'm really happy that I have one.

 

[Cave Puppy]

I had the Chris Hillman sig model for five minutes. It had the one bridge Guild Bi Sonic pickup and that was it for pickups. I could only get one halfway decent sound out it. Perhaps if it had the neck pickup I might have felt otherwise. The neck was super thin and I remember it wouldn't intonate correctly due to that unusual bridge. I have since made an SG bass kit with two BiSonics and a Sadwosky on board pre-amp.

 

[tb-player]

I test drove a Guild Starfire at GC once and could not get a bad sound out of it. Neck felt great. Finish was beautiful. Very versatile in all pickup configurations. Then I put a strap on it and stood up. The neck dive was so fierce the headstock would have hit the floor if I hadn't grabbed it. Put it back on its hook and left.

I've read a lot about neck dive with these. There's one within a few hours of my house. I think it might be worth a drive to check it out versus buying online, sight unseen.

 

[B-Mac]

I have a Guild Starfire guitar in emerald green. It is such a fun guitar to play. I enjoy it so much. It makes me wonder if the Starfire semi-hollow basses are just as fun.

Anyone own or ever play a Starfire? I am intrigued.

The peeps in these clubs might know a thing or two.
Guild Starfire?!
Guild Club

 

[tb-player]

The peeps in these clubs might know a thing or two.
Guild Starfire?!
Guild Club

Ah nice. Thanks. I'll dig around in there a bit.

 

[Oldbasslover]

I have a 67 Starfire 1 that I purchased in the early 70’s.
It plays and sounds phenomenal. As noted by several posters, neck dive can be a problem. For me, mitigated by using a wide, suede strap so it doesn’t slide. I feel very fortunate that I learned bass on it.
I don’t play it often as I prefer active electronics and the wide range of tonal control of my newer basses.

 

[overit]

I used to always play one everytime I would see one in a GC about 2-3 years ago. They were always one of those basses I couldn't put down. Wish I jumped on them when they were cheaper - one GC even had a new one marked down to $800 - which at the time was the average used price. Necks were thin and alot of tones between the two pickups and all the combinations and your hand positioning. This video shows a sweet tone and easy playability up the non-wide neck in a bass solo setting:

 

[mdogs]

So, I had one for about a week earlier this year. Beautiful bass, well built sounded great. Horrible neck dive and the body shape was so uncomfortable for me either standing or sitting that I returned it. I tried so hard to like it because it sounded so great, but it just didn’t happen.

I owned a Jack Casady for quite a few years. Neck dive was there, but not horrible, well built(mine was made in Korea) and sounded fantastic. Ultimately it was the fat neck that did it in, just didn’t enjoy it that much.

Either bass can be great for the right person. I am seriously think about putting a couple of Bisonics in one of my J’s.

 

[tb-player]

I used to always play one everytime I would see one in a GC about 2-3 years ago. They were always one of those basses I couldn't put down. Wish I jumped on them when they were cheaper - one GC even had a new one marked down to $800 - which at the time was the average used price. Necks were thin and alot of tones between the two pickups and all the combinations and your hand positioning. This video shows a sweet tone and easy playability up the non-wide neck in a bass solo setting:

That's great. And it highlights the thing that really interests me about this bass. I assumed it would have a thicker, muddier tone. It's just the opposite. A lot of clarity in that tone. Thanks for sharing. I hadn't seen that video.

 

[JohnNash]

I'd like my next bass to be either a Guild Starfire, or an Airline pocket bass, really want to try short scale, and maybe flat wounds...I think the difference in tone from my other two basses would be great.